FIRST CHRISTMAS IN LONDON
By Dr. Tilak S. Fernando
The first
Christmas in London was something to look forward to from what I had read about
in books but not seen. The traditional Christmas preparation and celebration
that I had seen at home, as an adolescent was quite different to what I saw in
England.
Christmas
in Moratuwa (Koralawella) was quite different. On a Christmas morning, I woke
up to the screaming ‘alarms’ or rather the screeching death pangs of pigs while
being slaughtered and disemboweled by
‘Aaron Bada’ as he was known as and also
nick named as Kusa Rajjuruwo. Every Sunday anyone wanted to buy fresh
pork had to get the meat from Aaron.
What I
could not stomach was to watch a ‘respectable’ gentleman (bless his soul), who
after prayers in the church coming back home and cutting the throat of a young rooster for his Christmas lunch.
It
nauseates me even now to visualise how he trampled both legs of the bird, and
put a kitchen knife across the animal’s throat several times until the head and
the body of the bird danced separately for a while. He then enjoyed Christmas
with a bottle of arrack with his neighbour, with chicken curry for lunch and
hit the pillow around 14 hrs for a long nap to sober himself. That was
Christmas for him! (God Bless his soul!)
To me, even
as a young man, that type of behaviour was unacceptable, which I thought was
going against the very words of Jesus Christ:
“And if
your right hand offend you, cut it off, and cast it from you: for it is
profitable for you that one of your members should perish, and not that your
whole body should be cast into hell” (Matthew 5:30 ).
Apart from
the domestic scene mentioned above, Christmas to some of the Koralawella folk
was to get drunk and stagger along the main road, with half raised sarongs,
singing and challenging others with Dutch courage out of the spirit of Arrack! Invariably some ended up
in a fracas or ended up falling on the road side being fully intoxicated with
liquor.
Celebration
of a different kind
Christmas
for the English is a family occasion where relations come under one roof and
enjoy the Christmas cheer. Christmas trees are an integral part of the festival
decorations in most British households.
The tree
is normally decorated with lights, tinsel, trinkets and the obligatory angel/fairy
on the top. Mistletoe also forms part of the Christmas decorations. Since
ancient times, according to European myths, ancient Druids recognised its
miraculous powers to cure illnesses, serve as an antidote against poisons,
ensure fertility and protect against the ill effects of witchcraft. Modern-day
custom of hanging a bunch of mistletoe from the ceiling and exchanging kisses
under it is regarded as a sign of friendship and goodwill.
Gifts
Exchange
of gifts made Christmas a special occasion which had come about during Queen Victoria’s reign. On the
eve of Christmas, children went to bed with full of excitement and hopes of
Santa visiting through their Chimneybreasts. In a ritualistic manner, parents
too got drawn into the game of filling stockings and left those under the
Christmas tree.
In the
morning housewives went through the excitement and stress of cooking special
Christmas lunch, which was the traditional Turkey while children woke up with
the enthusiasm to open their presents. It was not unusual at all to see the
some parents ending up losing their cool and start telling the children off
when fighting among kids began as the battery life of toys ran out within
hours.
The
traditional Christmas lunch consisted of Roast turkey with stuffing, roast beef
and Yorkshire pudding with gravy, roast potatoes with a mixture of vegetables
and a salad, Christmas pudding and minced pies. The characteristic of British
Christmas tradition of sipping the first alcoholic drink started around 11 am
by the men folk, while women enjoyed their wine and sherry or vermouth with
their lunch, which went on till late afternoon and ending up with coffee and a
glass of liqueur.
All the
booze and the rich food meant that around 4 pm the head of the family lost the
battle to keep his eyes open, and those who snore began to annoy others, and
those who managed to stay awake played board games. All the excitement and hype,
which began two-three weeks prior to Christmas, came to a close around 23.45
hours on Christmas night when all lights went out.
During
medieval times the custom was for every priest to empty the alms box of his
church and distribute gifts to the poor on the Boxing Day (26th).
Although
Boxing Day is still a public holiday in Britain, the perception seemed to have
changed now with shops and supermarkets opening for business and Departmental
stores such as Harrods and John Lewis, (among others) open their doors for
their ‘end of the year clearance sales’
for which some people used to queue up for 24 hours prior to the sale by
sleeping rough at the door step of the legendary Harrods, the up market
departmental store at Knightsbridge, London.
Sending
greeting cards at Christmas has turned out to be a fashionable social
significance at present with conditioning of the modern folk’s mindset to
reciprocate. In offices too, it has turned into a ‘ritual’ where one is
compelled to give a card to all working colleagues even if they hate the other
person and wish they were dead!
Christmas
gifts, which originated from pre-Christian tradition, varied from candles,
sweets, evergreen branches (given as symbols of continuous health and strength)
and gold coins for good luck. But today it has taken a 360 degree turn and the
gifts what people give as ‘Christmas presents’, for the sake of giving a memento,
can vary from useless bits and pieces to expensive items, in ‘keeping up with
the joneses’.
From the
middle of December Christmas fever starts to grow in Britain where all work
places organise their individual Christmas parties and ending up with lunches (with individual
contributions), either at a restaurant or within the office premises with food
brought from home voluntarily. Office Christmas party means it starts around
11.30 am and goes on till about 15 hours without any work in office, and staff
dispersing afterwards.
During
such parties those who become merry with sherry or wine tend to hug each other
and wish their colleagues a ‘Merry Christmas’, while the teetotalers have to
put up with the strong BO (body odour) of male colleagues or the repugnant
aromas of cheap female fragrances.
It’s
ironic that only once a year people tend to be considerate, courteous to exhibit
their love and extend their goodwill to fellow human beings in the name of
Jesus Christ and kiss each other wishing a ‘Merry Christmas’, which in my book
I have always thought it would be more so appropriate to call it an occasion to ‘Kiss
Mas’ (Kiss flesh!)
